Kono basho de piriodo ni // riza

[Roy Mustang]

In Riza's absence, she was asking around for a way to return to Amestris. It's been on Roy's mind for a few days now, ever since she returned to the Ascendants border. Before he knew the reason why she disappeared, the small worries in his chest brewed. Roy was well aware that Riza is a strong, capable woman- she's one of the last people you want to target. The worries grew when he realized he had no idea where she ran off to, how well she was doing, etc. Those worries, before the day she arrived again, continued to brew with each passing day. Thankfully, those worried thoughts died down when she showed up at the border, and this time she seemed here to stay. Roy didn't have a chance to fully react to her reasoning, as the Lieutenant noticed his leg and it sidetracked from there.

When Roy never gave a proper response, it made him think. Does Riza think he found some sort of way to return home? That he was possibly waiting for her return, even if he didn't know when she'd come back? Riza had no idea of his flashback, how Maes Hughes was alive for a second time. She doesn't know that Roy remembered exactly what happened, and the horrible truth that comes with it. With a sigh, he decided that he can't hold the truth any longer from her. She has a right to know- while he's been living his life for the past three months trying to adjust to a new world with the full and complete knowledge of not going back, Riza was looking and hoping for a way home.

The male got up onto his three paws and made his way through the observatory, the scent of Riza entering his nostrils. In the past few months, Roy has gotten used to his new senses, one of them being his sense of smell. It's far stronger than to what it used to be as a human- he wouldn't have been able to smell Riza out as a human and follow her scent like he's doing now. Eventually, the bobcat was lead to the room Riza picked out to stay in. He stopped at the doorway, gaze landing on the maned lioness. "Lieutenant, I need to speak with you." He spoke up with a flick of his ear, beginning to make a few steps into the room. "A few days ago, at the border, you said you were searching around for a way home and found nothing."

"I discovered information regarding us getting sent here," He said with a sigh, eyes blinking as he prepared to tell the truth to her. "It involves whether we can or can't go home, and it isn't good." He said with a frown, waiting for Riza to react before he fully explains what happened.

[ [member=942]Lt. Hawkeye[/member] ]

[Verdigris]

  [font=trebuchet ms]Several months later, Riza still wondered why they had ended up here, of all places.

  She was not an alchemist, and in fact had little experience with the field, outside of being her father’s glorified notepad. Despite this, she would have assumed that the human transmutation array would have had a more fitting effect than just turning them into animals. Mutilation of the same sort that had befallen Edward, as unpleasant as that had been, would have been a far more suitable punishment.

  Then again, perhaps it was fitting for them to be turned into what basically amounted to chimeras, among the most infamous symbols of alchemists’ pride and its disastrous consequences. They had hunted down the citizens of Ishval like animals; now they were the animals themselves. Maybe it could even have been a reflection of their foolish hopes, of their assumption that they could bring all the other co-conspirators to justice along with them, by ending their scheme just before it could be realized.

  Their mission in Amestris was, most likely, over. If the Colonel had discovered a way back, he almost certainly would have told her so already. If not, then she could only assume they were stuck here. She had had every intention of dying once they were successful in their gambit, if she didn’t perish in the process, but the situation was not that simple now. Living out their punishment, as light or as harsh as it would turn out to be, was all they could do.

  She had been arranging the furniture in her room when she detected the Colonel’s scent nearby. Stepping away from the bed, she walked over to the door and pushed it open. Roy almost certainly wanted to talk- truthfully, Riza had a lot to say too. Sure enough, he appeared at the door quickly after that. ”Come in, sir,” she said, allowing him through.

  As he spoke, she listened intently, her eyes narrowing slightly. He knew how they had been sent here, but as she had predicted, it had unfortunate ramifications for whether or not they could return. With a heavy sigh, she respond, ”I figured as much. Go ahead, sir.”

[Roy Mustang]

Roy wouldn't be surprised if Truth made them this way with their actions over in Ishval. They treated their own people like animals, they hunted them down under orders of the military to be living human weapons. Roy couldn't remember the exact amount of times he snapped his fingers, setting off controlled, flamed explosions- burning the lives of Ishvalans until there was nothing but ash left. It was now their turn to know what it's like to be treated like animals- Truth is surely grinning ear to ear at the gate right now. Roy knew their goal in Amestris was long over. The moment they ended up here was when everything they worked for went down the drain. There is no way for them to return home, to prevent the horrible fate that the homunculi have set for Amestris. Instead, they can only wonder and hope that Fullmetal and the others will stop the homunculi without their help.

"Back when we were caught up in the activated array, after we were torn apart- I originally ended up in a white void, with a large, gray gate behind me." He began to explain to the Lieutenant, with a serious gleam in his eyes. Roy wasn't making any of this up, it might sound hard to understand, especially in a non-alchemist's perspective. He was one hundred percent serious, he wouldn't lie to Riza. "In front of me, there was a white figure, an exact silhouette of me. It called itself Truth." He continued on, gaze not leaving Hawkeye once, blue eyes blinking. There were also other names Truth went by, like the world, the universe, god, and you(one-self). "It's a being that punishes people who commit human transmutation," Roy said with a frown, "even though I accidentally got caught in it, I was no exception."

"It forced me into the gate, shoving so much information into my head at once." Roy couldn't even explain what he saw, he guessed you have to see it to understand. He remembered how much his head felt like exploding during the ordeal, and as soon as he began to demand for it to stop, he was out of the gate. "Shortly after, I was in front of the Truth again. It explained to me what I saw was apart of my toll- and before I was able to question it, it's appearance began to change into me, and my body began to disintegrate again."

"All I remember before everything turning black was that it mentioned I was no longer useful in Amestris, but could be used somewhere else. Once everything went black, the next thing I knew, I woke up here." He said, with a sigh escaping his lips. "It was Truth's intention to send us here the moment we got caught in the array," The Flame Alchemist concluded, "There is no way for us to return to Amestris, we're stuck here."

With that, the bobcat fell silent for a moment, so Riza could take it all in.

[Verdigris]

  [font=trebuchet ms]A being that called itself Truth? Part of her internally wondered if it had any association with the homunculi- a strange being reflecting one’s own self, whose motivations were unknown and who had powers beyond mortal imagination. Maybe it wanted revenge for what they had collectively done to Lust, or wished to prevent them from uncovering the homunculi’s scheme.

  After thinking about it, however, she dismissed the idea. Truth could easily have just erased them from existence, or even sealed them in a Philosopher’s Stone, if it were working with the homunculi. For it to incur this on them didn’t make sense in that situation.

  In the back of her mind, she could vaguely recall a flash of white, and a sight almost like looking at herself in the mirror, before waking up. She could not remember any further details than that, though. It may have been a figment of her imagination, running wild as she was torn apart within the transmutation array. If it had been real, maybe her mind was deliberately stifling the experience, lest she break down from the sheer absurdity.

  At his remark of not being an exception despite the transmutation being an accident, she glanced off to the side. Indeed, this was probably related in some way to Ishval. The situation hadn’t been quite the same- in that case, though they hadn’t known what they were getting into, she would be hard-pressed to call it an “accident”- but the parallels were difficult to ignore.

  All this to say that they were, indeed, stuck. ”I see,” Riza muttered, narrowing her eyes. There was little else to say, really. Were this anyone else she might have expressed skepticism, but the Colonel did not lie to her. Even if he felt it proper or necessary to conceal the truth, he would never manage it with a lie this bizarre and extravagant, and he knew it full well. As strange as it sounded, his story must have been genuine.

  Well, perhaps there was more to be said after all. ”What will we do now, Colonel?” she asked, meeting his eyes directly. She had pledged to follow him, and follow him she would, even in a case so outside-context as this.